Ahli United Bank sponsors Bahrain's reception at joint IMF/ World Bank meeting

The reception which is hosted by the Bahrain Association of Banks aims at showcasing the progress and developments of Bahrain's banking sector to some 13,000 delegates who are expected to attend the meetings this year.

The joint IMF/World Bank meetings each year brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, banking and private sector executives and academics to discuss issues of global concern. Bahrain's delegation to this year's meetings in Istanbul will be led by the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Mr. Fahad Al-Rajaan, Chairman, Ahli United Bank, commented:

"As the prime and most anticipated event on the global financial calendar, the annual IMF/ World Bank Group meeting serves as the ideal platform to highlight the progress and achievements of the banking sector in Bahrain and promote the country as the financial hub of the Middle East. We are delighted to sponsor an event that aims at relaying a key Bahraini success story to the world".

"Given the current global economic and financial context, the upcoming Istanbul meeting takes on a heightened significance, as we all look forward to exchanging views and experiences with our counterparts from around the world on how to best meet the prevailing challenges and coordinate measures and response towards seeing a speedy upturn in economic and financial terms".

Headquartered in Bahrain and widely recognised amongst best performing banks in the GCC, Ahli United Bank has successfully solidified its position as a premier, pan Gulf-Middle Eastern financial institution, offering the fullest range of conventional and Sharia-compliant banking services to customers across the region and beyond. Thanks to a focused 'connecting for growth' strategy, AUB today integrates a network of 7 subsidiary and managed affiliate banks with more than 110 branches in 7 countries and serving a wide customer base of close to 450,000 clients in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Egypt and the United Kingdom.

In 2009, AUB was named 'Best Bank in the Middle East' for the fourth consecutive year by New York-based Global Finance, and to date enjoys solid ratings, the highest accorded to a Bahrain-based bank, by international rating agencies: Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Capital Intelligence { "A-"(stable), "A-"(stable) and "A" (Stable) respectively}.